Nergaard entered the music scene at the age of 16, and her first hit single “Tell Me Where You’re Going” made it to no. 1 in Japan as well as top 10 in Norway and other countries. Her album At First Light (2001) is the best-selling Norwegian jazz album ever recorded and entered the official sales chart in Norway at No. 1 in its first week. The album A Thousand True Stories, which Nergaard recorded with the Metropole Orchestra in 2008, was a great success in both Europe and Asia. Nergaard is one of the few Norwegian artists to have been commercially released all around the globe, on most continents and major music markets including Japan, Brazil, Germany, the United States, and the United Kingdom.

Nergaard has recorded and performed songs with Al Jarreau, Pat Metheny, Toots Thielemanns, and Morten Harket of A-ha. She has had Tord Gustavsen and Jarle Vespestad as two pillars in her bands. Vince Mendoza received a Grammy Award Nomination for the Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s) Award for the song “A Thousand True Stories” in 2011.